Open Championship week is here and Royal Birkdale is playing about as firm and fast as an Open course can play. Your home course probably isn’t a links course in Southport England but this time of year plenty of courses start drying out and firming up too.
Firm fairways don’t just change how far the ball rolls. They change how you have to play your shots from tee to green. I’m a fan of firm conditions. I’ll take all the extra distance I can get off the tee. But that distance comes with a trade-off and control is the first thing you give up if you’re not careful.
Here are four adjustments I make when the fairways firm up so the extra roll helps your game instead of hurting it.
1. Trust carry yardage, not total yardage
Jordan Spieth put this exactly right this week talking about Royal Birkdale. He said 5-irons are running out to 300 yards and that players have to be careful because bunkers sit right around that number before doglegs on several holes.
That’s the essence of distance control on firm ground. Your total number and your carry number stop matching up and if you’re playing to your total number, you’re going to end up somewhere you didn’t plan for.
When fairways are firm, work with your carry yardage for club selection instead of the number you’d play on a normal day. Take the club that carries the ball to a safe spot short of trouble. If you’re not sure how much roll to expect, start paying attention in the first few holes and watch the way the ball rolls out. If you have a lower ball flight, expect a lot more roll.
2. Use the ground instead of fighting it
Back in the 1976 Open, 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros was playing his second Open Championship and had eagled the 17th hole. Standing next to the 18th green needing to get up and down to tie for second with Jack Nicklaus, he played what’s still remembered as one of the most iconic shots in the championship’s history.
Instead of trying to fly a wedge over trouble, he bumped the ball on the ground between two greenside bunkers and it rolled up to two feet from the hole. It’s a shot that’s stuck around in Open history for 50 years because it’s the clearest example of trusting the ground instead of fighting it.
That’s good strategy on firm turf and one of Birkdale’s own design quirks makes it even more true this week. Most of the greens are bunkered at the sides rather than straight across the front which leaves an open runway to work with if you’re willing to use it instead of carrying the ball all the way to the pin.
From just off the green on firm turf, the putter is often the smarter play, even from 10 or 15 yards away. Firm ground means predictable roll and predictable roll takes your worst outcomes with a wedge – thin contact, a chunk, a bladed skull – completely off the table.
3. Adjust your ball position for clean contact
Tom Watson won his fifth Open at Birkdale in 1983 with a 2-iron into the 72nd hole he called the best of his life, catching it perfectly clean off a tight lie under about as much pressure as exists in golf. There’s no cushion for a mishit to still turn out fine.
Playing from firm turf requires good low-point control.
To check it instead of guessing, take a practice swing and look at where your divot starts, not where it ends. If it starts behind where the ball would sit, move your ball position back about half a ball from your normal spot and feel your hands staying slightly ahead of the clubhead through impact. It’s a small change but it’s the difference between catching the turf and catching the ball first.
4. Change your wedge setup on tight lies
High-bounce wedges are built to glide through turf and sand but on hard ground that same bounce can cause the leading edge to bounce into the ball instead of through it, leading to thin shots or a low screamer.
On tight, firm lies, look for a wedge with lower bounce, somewhere in the eight- to 10-degree range. This ensures the leading edge can get closer to the ground without skipping. Play the ball slightly back in your stance and take a more descending, punched swing. Don’t try to fly it high and spin it to a stop. Firm ground doesn’t hold spin the way soft ground does. A lower, more controlled shot is going to be more predictable than trying to stop one dead next to the pin.
The bottom line
Firm fairways aren’t a problem to fix. They’re a different set of rules to play by. The extra roll off the tee is a real advantage if you know where it’s taking you. Pay attention to these things the next time you show up to a course that’s firm. You’ll get the benefit of the extra distance without giving away the control that comes with it.
Top Photo Caption: Tommy Fleetwood hits a shot during a practice round prior to the 2026 Open Championship. (GETTY IMAGES/Andrew Redington)
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